Roomies
by PrehistoricCat
Summary: *spoilers for series 4, eps 1 and 2*  Connor and Abby are finding that their new living arrangements are a  little testing...


**Disclaimer: Not mine, no copyright intended**

**A/N: Not a story as such, more a "scene" that I got in my head when I saw the end of episode 2. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"You're going to have to say something to her, Abby." Connor groaned, rolling over and putting a pillow over his head. This was the third morning in a row that they'd been woken by Jess clattering around in the kitchen just after 6am.

"Why me?" Abby hissed back.

"Because she's a girl and you're a girl and … you're just better at that sort of thing than I am." He peered out from his pillow and gave Abby one of his puppy dog smiles.

"We got up much earlier than this back in the Cretaceous, you know." Abby said, sitting up and giving up hope of getting back to sleep. "And it is her flat, she can do what she likes."

"I know." he sighed, and sat up too. "It's just that I kind of thought that once we were back, we could have some nice lie-ins together, and … you know..." he stroked her back. Abby turned and kissed him lightly on the lips. "We need to get our own place."

"I know, and we will. I just don't want to take the first thing that becomes available, and end up with a ton of repairs to do. I want our first proper place together to be just right." She leaned back against the headboard and stroked his shoulder. "And she's been so kind, letting us stay here. How can I say to her, 'would you mind not getting up so early, Connor and I want to have sex in the morning without being disturbed.'?"

"I would hope you'd be a little more subtle than that, Abby!" Connor laughed. He pulled her to him so that her head rested on his chest, and tangled his fingers in her hair lazily. His smile dropped and he became serious again. "It's not just the getting up early thing though is it? The constant bleating on about how wonderful Becker is for a start ...And she never takes the hint that we want to be alone! The only time we're ever alone is when we come to bed... and if she sits between us on the sofa one more time, I swear I'm going to..."

"Connor, relax! It's a temporary arrangement until we're back on our feet, that's all. We need to think about more important things like new clothes first. We've dealt with worse things than her."

"Think I'd rather take my chances with a Raptor!" Connor sighed, pulling the duvet off and turning to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Don't say things like that, Connor." Abby said quietly. She swallowed down a tear she could feel building up. All the time in the Cretaceous, she had drummed it into Connor that crying didn't help, so she couldn't let him see her lose it now. Connor turned and gave her a hug.

"Sorry." he whispered. He stood up and walked slowly over to the window. He pulled aside the curtain and peered out, the sun was just beginning to rise above the roofs of the apartments opposite. It may not have been picturesque, but to Connor it was a glorious sight that he would not tire of. It meant they were home – at least in their own time anyway. Home in the true sense of the word would have to wait a little while longer. "I'm going to take a shower." he said, striding towards the door.

"At least put your boxer shorts on first, eh!" Abby said, smiling. As much as she enjoyed looking at Connor's naked body bathed in the early morning sunlight, she did not think Jess would appreciate Connor wandering around her flat like that. He grabbed his boxers from the floor where Abby had thrown them last night, and pulled them on before leaving the bedroom. Abby sank back under the covers. At least Jess seemed to have quietened down; and Abby thought she might get in another half hour snooze whilst Connor was showering. It was still a little strange sharing a bed with Connor; but in a nice way. On the occasions where they did sleep together in the Cretaceous, their only cover was the foil survival blanket she'd had in her backpack, and their mattress was just a few vines woven together. Most of the time, one of them would stay awake though and keep half an ear open for approaching predators. To not have to worry about being eaten alive at any moment was a wonderful feeling.

Just as she was drifting off, the peace was shattered by an ear-piercing scream. Abby was immediately on her feet and grabbed the nearest item of clothing she could to cover herself – Connor's t-shirt. Her instinct took over, and as she crept out and into the kitchen she looked for something she could use as weapon. Jess had a rather impressive array of kitchen knives in a block on the work surface, so Abby took the largest one and held it out in front of her. Moving out into the hall, she could hear a scuffle and her heart began to pound... if something had happened to Connor...

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Connor was saying, backing out of the bathroom, with his hand over his eyes. Abby relaxed, but still kept a tight grip on the knife. He turned to her, a horrified look on his face. "This isn't what it looks like! I didn't know she was in there! Honestly!"

Abby was slightly confused, until Jess came out of the bathroom, red faced and wearing nothing but a white towel around her and dripping wet. "It's entirely my fault, Connor. You don't need to apologise." she was saying. "I'm not used to other people being around." She was gushing, her words tripping out in a rapid succession. Connor just backed away further, still covering his eyes with his hand. Jess turned to Abby. "I really should get a lock fitted, I suppose."

"Yeah, you should." Abby said in an abrupt tone. "Connor. Bedroom. Now." She turned on her heels and stomped back to the bedroom, Connor just behind her like an obedient puppy. He closed the door and stood, leaning against it. He could sense Abby was not happy, and he knew the best thing to do was just keep quiet until she spoke. She was stomping around the room, looking for her clothes which were scattered around the floor. Connor briefly allowed himself a smile at the memory of how they'd got there, but quickly became serious when Abby finally looked over at him.

"I didn't know she was in there!" he said.

"Didn't you hear the water running?" Abby said, her voice sightly louder than usual.

"I don't know!" Connor said, looking down. "I just didn't think... we've been on our for so long; considering other people just doesn't feel natural at the moment." There was a silence. Abby gave a loud sigh and slumped down on the bed. "I'll go out and buy a bolt for the door as soon as the shops open, and I'll fit it tonight." He forced a smile, waiting for Abby to respond.

"Its the very least you can do!" Abby snapped. "That poor girl! Takes us into her home, and you repay her by ..."

There was a tiny knock on the door. Abby looked at Connor, and he moved away to open it. Jess was stood there, now fully clothed but still red-faced. "I couldn't help overhearing, Abby. Please don't blame Connor. I think we all have to get used to our new living arrangements and remember that there's three of us here." Jess smiled.

Connor thought Abby was about to explode, so he decided to step between them. "It'll be fine. I'll fix a bolt to the door, so as long as we remember to lock it when we use it there'll be no repeat of …"

"That's very sweet of you, Connor. Don't worry if you can't, I'll ask Becker later." She turned to leave, then stopped. "Oh, and whilst we're on the subject... Little awkward actually... erm... You might want to make sure the door to your bedroom is closed properly before you … " she blushed even more than she was already. "I had to come and close it eventually, you were both a bit... occupied."

Connor wanted the ground to swallow him whole. They'd been pretty vocal last night, relishing being able to abandon themselves completely without worrying if their groans were attracting predators.

"I don't mind … I mean you're a couple now right, and that's what couples do..." Jess was gushing again.

"It won't happen again, Jess. We're sorry." Abby said quietly.

"Glad that's out of the way, I've been worrying all night how to approach the subject... now, what would my roomies like for breakfast? I thought bagels perhaps?"

"I think I might skip breakfast, actually." Connor said. "I should get into town so I can get a bolt for the door..."

"Don't be silly, Connor! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and you and Abby need to be building up your strength... not that you look like you need it, from what I saw you were..." She stopped, sensing that Abby was glaring at her. "I'll go and see what I can find."

Connor closed the door behind her and waited for Abby to explode. It was like watching a firework – light the blue touch paper and stand back.

"That does it! We rent the first flat we can find as soon as possible. When you go out for that bolt, get a local newspaper!" Abby said, her face like thunder.

"But you said we shouldn't take the first..."

"I know what I said! But that was before she ogled my boyfriend and then said she'd overheard us having sex! She was probably getting off on listening to us and imagining it was her you were..."

"Abby. She fancies Becker. She's not going to even look at me in that way if Becker's her type is she?" He sat next to her and wrapped his reassuring arms around her, kissing the top of her head. "If you want to move out, we'll have a serious look today. We'll take a short term lease somewhere, and by that time we might have found the perfect place for us to buy."

"I hope you're right, Connor." Abby said, softening and relaxing into his embrace. "She's sweet, but … I just want it to be us, not worrying about wandering around in our underwear if we want to, and making as much noise as we want."

"It will be. Now, I'd better get to the shops eh!" Connor stood up, smiled, pulled on his jeans and a t-shirt and left Abby to calm down on her own. One thing he'd learnt about her in the Cretaceous was that she needed her alone time still, even though they were pretty much inseparable most of the time. As long as he remembered that, their relationship would be OK.

A few minutes later, Abby found herself looking out of the window down into the street below. She saw Connor crossing over the road to where the car was parked and watched him get in. Then she chastised herself – she didn't need to keep watch for him now, but she just couldn't help herself. Habits like this were hard to break after everything they'd been through. The sooner they had a place they could call their own, the better. They needed to get back into a proper routine.

After she'd watched Connor drive away, she went to go and find Jess. She needed to apologise, and maybe offer to do a bit of digging to see if Becker was interested. Then she'd tell her that they were going to move out.


End file.
